Supplementation of green fodder as mineral source in growing calves fed wheat straw and concentrate mixture.

摘要

A feeding trial was conducted on 15 growing crossbred male calves (70.6+or-5.33 kg), divided into three treatment groups (T< sub>1, T< sub>2 and T< sub>3) of 5 animals each, to evaluate green fodder as source of minerals. Calves under T< sub>1 group received concentrate mixture without any mineral mixture, while T< sub>2 group also received concentrate mixture without mineral mixture plus green sorghum/berseem (replacing concentrates on nitrogen basis) and T< sub>3 group received concentrate mixture containing 2% mineral mixture. All the experimental animals were kept on a composite ration of concentrate mixture (1.0% of the body weight) and wheat straw (ad lib.) and continued for 191 days. A metabolism trial of 7-day duration was conducted and blood samples were collected until the end of experimental feeding. Results revealed that daily DMI in experimental calves was 3.42, 4.12 and 3.77 kg in T< sub>1, T< sub>2 and T< sub>3 groups, respectively. Daily DMI expressed as kg per 100 kg body weight was 2.46, 2.54 and 2.58 kg in animals of T< sub>1, T< sub>2 and T< sub>3 group, respectively. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP and NDF was comparable among the treatment groups and ranged from 49.1 to 52.7; 52.8 to 57.0; 71.1 to 74.1; and 54.0 to 56.2%, respectively. ADF digestibility was significantly higher in T< sub>2 group (41.2%) when compared to T< sub>1 (28.3%) and T< sub>3 (32.1%) groups. All the animals were in positive nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus balances. Average daily gain (g) was higher (P<0.05) in calves of T< sub>2 group (454) when compared with T< sub>1 (378) and T< sub>3 (374) groups.